


measured cups of love

by Seito



Series: tick tock, forward and back (time travel fics) [6]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Coffee Shops, F/M, Love, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 07:26:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17157791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seito/pseuds/Seito
Summary: “I’m Aulea,” she said, introducing herself. She could make small conversation until Regis decided to show up.“...Noct,” he said.





	measured cups of love

**Author's Note:**

> [inspired by this kinkmeme prompt](https://ffxv-kinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/3892.html?thread=5780788#cmt5780788)

Aulea checked her phone one more time. No new messages. The last one from Regis saying he was running late. 

That was twenty minutes ago. 

She huffed. As Crown Prince, Regis’ duties were far and wide, and she understood that. He made it perfectly clear when they had first started dating. It was just mildly annoying when they did have plans and Regis had promised to be here, only for him to fail to show up on time. 

He was lucky she loved him. 

“Excuse me, is this seat taken?” 

Aulea looked up. There was a young man standing next to her table. A quick glance around had shown the coffeeshop had gotten crowded when she wasn’t looking. There wasn’t an empty seat in sight. 

“You can sit,” she said. “Until my boyfriend comes, the seat is empty.” 

A subtle way to shoot down any plans he might have with flirting with her. 

He smiled gently and sank into the seat, letting loose a soft sigh. “Thanks.”

Ah. He probably didn’t want to head back out into the cold yet. To be fair, it was pretty chilly today. 

“I’m Aulea,” she said, introducing herself. She could make small conversation until Regis decided to show up. 

“...Noct,” he said. 

Something wet brushed against her hand under the table. Aulea shrieked, snatching her hand back. 

“Umbra!” Noct hissed under the table. “You’re going to get us kicked out!” 

Hesitantly, Aulea looked underneath the table and came face to face with a black dog. “A dog?” she asked. 

Noct sighed. “That’s Umbra. My fr-friend’s dog. He darted under your table when I first walked in.”

Aulea stifled a laugh. Was that why he wanted to sit at her table? “A friend, huh?” she teased, having picked up on his stumble. “Sounds like a bit more.”

Noct blinked at her surprised. “You caught me,” he said with a soft smile. “Umbra is my fiancee’s dog. Still getting used to saying it.” 

Aulea clapped in glee. “Fiancee! Congratulations! How did you propose?” 

“I didn’t,” Noct said. “It’s an arranged marriage.” 

Aulea felt her smile drop. “Ah, I see,” she said. “I didn’t know there were families outside of a few nobles who still did that.” 

Like Regis. She had been grateful that King Mor had given them his blessing. That Regis wouldn’t be forced to break their relationship because of a political marriage. Sometimes the anxiety got the worse of her. What would she do if it ever came down to that? Could… she really just step away? They hadn’t talked about marriage yet but… Aulea shook away the thoughts. 

Noct laughed softly. “Yeah, I’m a little noble,” he said, with a mischievous smile. 

“I-I didn’t mean anything bad!” Aulea quickly backpedalled. 

“It’s fine,” Noct said. “Yeah, I was hoping to marry for love like my parents did, but just wasn’t meant to be. This arrange marriage was bit of a last ditch effort, to protect my family. And in the end, I got a little lucky.”

“Lucky?” Aulea asked. 

“I’m getting to marry my best friend,” Noct said. “She’s always been like a sister to me, so marrying her isn’t a hardship, even if I don’t love her romantically. It’ll be fine,” he said, looking thoughtful, a little bittersweet.

“Small blessings then,” Aulea said. 

That… was very strong of him. To marry someone for the sake of his family. 

“Small blessings,” Noct said. “Enough about me, so how did you meet your boyfriend?” 

Aulea groaned. “I was in a rush to get my college class one morning. I ran straight into him. He was wearing a fancy suit and I was panicking over the idea of having to replace it because I couldn’t afford it.” 

Noct grinned. “Did he make you replace it?”

“No,” Aulea said, with a sigh of relief. “In fact, he managed to charm me into letting him buy me a drink for the trouble I caused him and we’ve been dating since.” 

“A good start to a love story,” Noct said. 

Aulea let out dramatic groan. “My boyfriend jokingly says that all the time,” she said, unable to stop the smile from spreading across her face. “He’s such a romantic sappy dork.” 

It was one of the few surprising things to find out about Regis. He was a romantic at heart. It went beyond flowers and chocolates. It was silly text messages and heartful words. It was midnight dances and little gifts in her bag. It was sweeping her up in a tight hug every time he saw her. Just thousands of little tiny things that made Aulea dizzy with love. 

“So wedding bells in your future?” Noct asked. 

“M-maybe,” Aulea sputtered. Regis… was a Crown Prince. That meant he was going to be King. Could she… could handle being Queen? “It’s not like we’ve talked about it.” 

Noct’s smile was gentle. “But you love him?”

“Of course!” Aulea said. “More than anything in this world.” She grew quiet. “Sometimes I wonder if it’s enough,” she whispered. 

There were so many things to consider. She loved Regis. That was easy. Could she be Queen? Would others let her marry Regis? So complicated. 

“Me too,” Noct said. 

Aulea winced. Noct didn’t have a choice in his marriage. At least she did. Marginally. 

… What if she proposed to Regis? 

Now there was thought. No one said she couldn’t. 

Umbra reached out and tugged on Noct’s sleeve. Noct sighed. “Now you want to leave?” he asked, giving Umbra a fond pat. 

Aulea pouted. They were going to leave already? 

Noct wave her a tiny wave as he stood. “May you two find happiness.” 

“Noct,” Aulea said, getting to her feet. 

Noct stopped, turning to look back at her. Umbra darted out the door without stopping. “Yes?” 

“Good luck with your marriage,” Aulea said. “May you two find happiness too.” 

Noct smiled. “Don’t worry. We’ll walk tall and make it work. It’ll be fine.” 

He was out the door, disappearing into the cold. 

Ah! She should have grabbed his number. They could have caught up later. Oh well. Maybe Regis would know. There couldn’t be that many arranged marriages with someone named Noct in Insomnia right? 

“Aulea?”

Aulea brightened, coming out of her thoughts. “Regis!” 

Regis pulled her into a tight hug. “I’m sorry for being so late,” he said. He looked back at the door. “I caught a glimpse of some man by your table. He wasn’t giving you trouble, was he?” 

Aulea huffed. “No! He was a gentleman. Reminded me a bit of you, when you aren’t running late,” she said poking him in the stomach. 

“I’m sorry,” Regis apologized again. “I told father I was meeting you today and yet he insisted on going over one more report.” 

“It’s fine,” she said with a laugh. 

“Let me make it up to you?” Regis asked, looking at her so earnestly. 

Aulea smiled. “Okay.” 

Yes, things would be fine. She look into wedding rings and go have a nice long serious talk with King Mor. Marrying Regis, that wasn’t such a scary thought. Kids, in their future too. Practically expected from Regis, but she was excited by the idea too. 

Oh. Hmm… Noct. Noctis… 

“That would be a nice name for a son,” Aulea said to herself. 

“Hm?” Regis asked. 

Aulea waved it off. “Just thinking about the future,” she said brightly. 

Who knew what tomorrow would bring? 

**Author's Note:**

> Look Noct deserves to meet his mom okay? Aulea needs to know her son turns out okay (EVEN IF SHE DOESN'T KNOW THAT'S HER SON). And just feelings about marriage. 
> 
> Happy Holidays  
> Please leave a review on your way out :D


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